Laulau Bay

Saipan's east opens the horseshoe of Laulau Bay - the island's shore-diving classic, where entries off the beach ladder straight onto reef terraces worked by green turtles at dependable rates, coral heads stepping to the bay's blue middle and visibility rewarding the trades' calmer days. Snorkellers take the shallows' version with equal turtle odds, the Kagman cliffs frame the bay's southern arm, and the beach's simple pavilions serve the surface intervals. It is the island's best water for the least logistics - fins, mask and the walk in. The bay is the island's main shore-diving entry, with the reef reachable without a boat.

What you actually see

• The turtle terraces - greens grazing the reef steps.
• The shore entries - ladder-and-walk diving ease.
• The horseshoe frame - Kagman cliffs on the arm.
• The snorkel shallows - the mask-only version's rewards.

When to go

December to June for the calmest east-side days; mornings glass best. Swell stirs visibility honestly - locals' judgement serves.

Honest expectations

Entries cross shallow reef - booties and buoyancy manners; facilities are pavilion-simple and the turtles protected absolutely.

Nearby

Forbidden Island's trail, the Kagman plateau and Garapan.